ICON Aircraft

On Memorial Day I had a chance to visit Icon Aircraft and spend some time with CEO Kirk Hawkins. We met seven years ago — just after the SP/LSA rule was released — near the beginning of his ambitions to create an entirely clean-sheet LSA amphibian. *** Recently, Icon released the video appearing below to […]

The splash heard ’round the LSA world continues to send out ripples, though it’s been years now since startup LSA maker Icon Aircraft first announced, with considerable marketing fanfare, its amphibious light sport amphibious project, the A5. *** Now comes word today from the company that’s it’s just completed a “demanding regimen of spin-resistance test flights. […]

Today, Microsoft announced the return of Flight Simulator, once one of the best-selling games on computers. Well, in truth, it’s no longer called Flight Simulator, rather simply “Flight.” *** In 2009 Microsoft abruptly dropped Flight Sim, leaving only the techy X-Plane for digital joystick jockeys. It’s way above my pay grade to understand while the […]

Two of the best-promoted and most interesting LSA projects – and two of the most delayed getting to market – are back in the news. Icon Aircraft, a startup company created to produce the sexy composite A5 amphibian, just snagged  $25 million in funding to help complete remaining design issues, tool up for production and begin […]

Most of the 118 Special Light-Sport Aircraft have been developed on a very modest budget… not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. By far, the highest figure I’ve heard was about $2 million to create a new SLSA model. Yet that number doesn’t include starting a company from scratch and going all the […]

Right in line with Icon’s high-viz marketing push for its A5 amphib LSA comes the announcement that iconic big-ticket shopping purveyor Nieman Marcus has the futuristic waterplane as the number one (and priciest) fantasy gift in its 2009 Christmas Book. *** The Icon is currently in extensive flight testing at Tehachapi, Ca, one of the […]

In its first year as the AOPA “Summit” (versus “Expo”), the 70-year-old, 415,000-member organization made lots of changes large and small. Among the most notable under capable new president Craig Fuller was much greater attention to LSA. Here’s the fast-read update… *** AOPA announced their 2010 Sweepstakes airplane is a Remos GX; the company had […]

Earlier it appeared that the Flight Design MC would be the first Light-Sport Aircraft ever displayed at the giant National Business Aircraft Association show. NBAA is the organization representing business jets plus a large range of exhibitors serving executive transportation. The trade show happening now in Orlando is a stupendous event with many more exhibitors […]

I’ve rarely promoted watching a YouTube video in a blog post. And this obviously isn’t the first SLSA (candidate) to make a first flight. But I’d repeat this many times if all first flights were as well documented as the first flight of the Icon A5 LSA seaplane. *** The L.A. company has shown unusual […]

Most aviation participants have been wringing their hands over the declining pilot population. FAA’s database of active pilots has dropped from 825,000 when I began flying to less than 600,000 today…all while the U.S. population has grown by 50 million. We are clearly doing something wrong, and have for too long had a too-inward focus. […]